


Five Secrets Iris Kept

by edriss



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 19:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4450109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edriss/pseuds/edriss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short five times story written for gameofcards at livejournal</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Secrets Iris Kept

i.

He was crying, the small blond boy her father brought home like a stray puppy. He was always crying, like his eyes could only produce tears though these days they were quiet streaks down his cheeks rather than the loud, sobbing kind they were at the beginning. When he wasn't crying, he was silent. For the first month or so, Iris wasn't sure he could talk. So the three of them -- her father, her and Barry -- they'd sit silently around the kitchen table eating grilled cheese sandwiches until her dad excused them both. Iris would go to her room and read but Barry would go to the spare room and cry. She doesn't know why she did it, what finally made her step over the threshold to enter his room while he buried his wet face in his pillow. But one day she did. And she kept walking until she reached his bed where she laid down next to him -- not touching him, just on her side next to him. He actually smiled at her. Iris decided right then, she'd always try to make him smile.

 

ii.

It had been a joke. In middle school, everything was a joke and she felt dumb for even falling for it. Her only saving grace was that she hadn't told _anyone_ (even Barry!) about the possibility that someone might like her. Maybe her dad was right and she was too young to be thinking about relationships. She walked home alone that day so that she could dry her tears before her family could see but she never forgave Josh Beam, even after he moved away the next year.

 

iii.

She was sitting on the island in the kitchen and laughing at the not very funny joke someone had just told. The beer in her cup was warm already and it hadn't tasted very good but she kept taking dainty sips thinking she might get used to the taste. For once, she was trying to be a normal high school student -- someone who went to parties on weekends and drank gross beer and laughed at stupid jokes that cute boys told to try and make her laugh. So much of her life had not been normal that she thought maybe she deserved this night. But it wasn't long before someone brought up Barry. The sing-song way in which the girl said his name made her cheeks heat with embarrassment or anger. She was used to people thinking there was something there. That was _weird_ , though. She grew up with Barry. He was her best friend. (Never mind that her best friend was at home probably watching movies by himself because she ditched him for this dumb party.) It was only when someone else made a similar remark that she realized the flush in her body was anger. She jumped off the kitchen island and threw her warm beer in the offender's face and promptly drove home. She'd rather spend her night with someone who wanted to be around her anyway.

 

iv.

She felt guilty that her first reaction was selfish. Barry couldn't go away to college. What would she do without him? That was stupid. Central City wasn't really known for it's top notch colleges. And just because she wanted to stay close to home, it didn't mean Barry felt the same way. She knew there were a lot of things he wanted to get away from, a lot of memories he couldn't escape if he stayed here. She just hoped he would come back after he graduated. That was her biggest fear, especially the first year when she hardly heard from him at all. He always claimed he was studying but she often felt like he was trying to distance himself from her. They kept the door to his room closed and one day, Iris saw it open a crack. She went to shut it all the way but caught glimpse of a light by the desk. Opening the door all the way, she saw her father sitting at the desk with papers spread in front of him. She walked over to him quietly, trying to figure out what he was looking at but it wasn't quiet enough. He quickly covered the papers and looked at her. He looked guilty and when he revealed the case file for Nora Allen's murder, Iris knew why. She wrapped her arms around her father's shoulders but for once, neither of them cried.

 

v. 

It was annoying that no one else was as excited or hopeful about The Streak. Her whole life she had wanted something extraordinary to happen to her. She always felt like there was something waiting for her, just around the corner or just over the horizon, so close she could almost touch it but her fingertips always fell short. So of course she chased the red blur, the fastest thing she'd ever seen, so fast she thought she might have imagined it the first time. Drinking coffee on the job was frowned upon but it was the only way she made it through the closing shift. So she was drinking her coffee and locking the door to Jitters when The Streak flew by. She was so surprised she didn't have time to register it before she saw the red again, this time it slowed almost imperceptibly but she swore, _swore_ , it was a man and he winked at her. She would never tell anyone that, though, since everyone already thought she was crazy.


End file.
